Toyota Gazoo Racing enters technical partnership with MoneyGram Haas F1 Team
Toyota isn’t just an automotive juggernaut, its history is littered with (successful) forays into the motorsports world. In more recent times they’ve been dominant in the World Endurance Championship (WEC), World Rally Championship (WRC), and other disciplines including NASCAR.
What has eluded Toyota though has been true success in the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula 1 (F1). In the early 2000’s the Japanese marquee spent hundreds of millions trying to compete in F1 only to come up short and eventually leave the sport for good.
It seems though Toyota just can’t let go, and might be making a play to return to F1.
MoneyGram Haas F1 x Toyota Gazoo Racing
There have been rumblings around the F1 paddock in the past few months that Toyota had been keen on striking up a technical partnership with an F1 team. Speculations pointed toward the MoneyGram Haas F1 team, and in a Facebook post earlier today both parties have confirmed the partnership.
According to the announcement Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) will help provide Haas with “design, technical and manufacturing services, while MoneyGram Haas F1 Team will offer technical expertise and commercial benefits in return.”
This partnership could yield dividends for both entities, considering the Haas F1 team needs the boost in terms of the technical and design side to help increase their on-track performance, while TGR can use this partnership to put themselves back into the sport without investing copious amounts of money by putting up their own team.
Could this mean Toyota wants to come back as an engine supplier? we’ll have to wait and see just as they are doing themselves. Furthermore in a press release published after the announcement, “the agreement entails the participation in MoneyGram Haas F1 Team test drives by TGR training drivers, engineers, and mechanics. This will enable the drivers to gain driving experience in F1, and it will allow the engineers and mechanics to learn how to analyze vast amounts of data, such as driving data, to effectively operate a pipeline for such at TGR. The agreement also entails the participation of TGR engineers and mechanics in MoneyGram Haas F1 Team racing car aerodynamics development to cultivate human resources—by having participants design and manufacture carbon-fiber parts in simulated extreme operational environments—who can play active roles on the front lines of the pinnacle of motorsports and reflect the technology and knowledge acquired in production vehicles.”
One thing is for sure though, this is a big boost for F1 that the number 1 car company globally has taken a re-interest in the sport.
